
Jacek Zielonka, PhD, DSc
Assistant Professor; Director, Redox & Bioenergetics Shared Resource
Locations
- Biophysics
TBRC C0780
Contact Information
Education
PhD with honours, Chemistry, Lodz University of Technology, Poland, 2002
MSc with honours, Chemistry and Chemistry Technology, Lodz University of Technology, Poland, 1998
Biography
After completing my PhD training in 2002, I worked for 1.5 years as a lecturer at the Lodz University of Technology in Poland. In 2004, I joined the Department of Biophysics as a postdoctoral fellow, working on the chemistry of probes for cellular oxidizing species. In 2007, I became a research scientist; in 2015, I became research director of the MCW Free Radical Research Center; and in 2020, I was appointed to director of the MCW Cancer Center Redox & Bioenergetics Shared Resource. I am an assistant professor in the Department of Biophysics.
I have expertise in the redox chemistry of biologically relevant compounds and bioanalytical techniques used in the area of oxidative stress research. I have a strong background in free radical chemistry and chemical and biochemical kinetics. I am experienced in a variety of analytical techniques including high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) with absorption, fluorescence, mass spectrometric, and electrochemical detection. I have co-authored 70 publications on various aspects of free radical chemistry and biochemistry, on the methodology of the detection of free radicals in biological systems, as well as on cellular bioenergetics as a target for development of new therapeutics. I have served as an editorial board member of Free Radical Biology and Medicine since since 2012.
Research Experience
- Antioxidants
- Boronic Acids
- Cell Line, Tumor
- Cell Proliferation
- Cyclic N-Oxides
- Cytochromes c
- Energy Metabolism
- Enzyme Inhibitors
- Ethidium
- Fluorescent Dyes
- Free Radical Scavengers
- Free Radicals
Methodologies and Techniques
- Blotting, Western
- Chromatography, High Pressure Liquid
- Electron Spin Resonance Spectroscopy
- Fluorescence
- Fluorometry
- High-Throughput Screening Assays
- Luminescence
- Luminescent Measurements
- Mass Spectrometry
- Pulse Radiolysis
- Spectrophotometry
- Spectrophotometry, Ultraviolet
Research Interests
My current research interests focus on the development of new, rapid methods of detection of reactive oxygen and nitrogen species. My research involves probe design and synthesis; characterization of chemical reactivity of probes, including determination of the reaction products, stoichiometry, and kinetics; and application of various noninvasive and invasive detection modes for complete and rigorous characterization of cellular oxidants in vitro and in vivo.

The goal of developing new probes is to understand the chemical biology of cellular oxidants under physiological and pathophysiological conditions and to establish high-throughput screening protocols for the development of new inhibitors of NADPH oxidases and other enzymes producing reactive oxygen and nitrogen species for cardioprotection, neuroprotection, and cancer treatment.
Another of my research interests is exploiting the differences in bioenergetics profiles and redox status between normal and cancer cells for development of strategies to selectively target cancer cells. My research focuses on the design and development of compounds engineered to selectively accumulate in cancer cell mitochondria and induce bioenergetic and redox stress to stop cancer cell proliferation.

Lab Members
Matea Juric, Research Technologist I
Collaborators
Dr. Micael Hardy, Aix-Marseille Universite, Marseille, France
Dr. Adam Sikora, Lodz University of Technology, Lodz, Poland
Dr. Radosław Podsiadły, Lodz University of Technology, Lodz, Poland
Dr. Radosław Michalski, Lodz University of Technology, Lodz, Poland
Publications
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(Angireddy R, Chowdhury AR, Zielonka J, Ruthel G, Kalyanaraman B, Avadhani NG.) Free Radic Biol Med. 2020 Nov 01;159:1-14 PMID: 32738395 SCOPUS ID: 2-s2.0-85089013403 08/02/2020
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(Michalski R, Thiebaut D, Michałowski B, Ayhan MM, Hardy M, Ouari O, Rostkowski M, Smulik-Izydorczyk R, Artelska A, Marcinek A, Zielonka J, Kalyanaraman B, Sikora A.) Sci Rep. 2020 10 29;10(1):18626 PMID: 33122809 PMCID: PMC7596101 SCOPUS ID: 2-s2.0-85094638056 10/31/2020
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Cysteine sulfenylation by CD36 signaling promotes arterial thrombosis in dyslipidemia.
(Yang M, Li W, Harberg C, Chen W, Yue H, Ferreira RB, Wynia-Smith SL, Carroll KS, Zielonka J, Flaumenhaft R, Silverstein RL, Smith BC.) Blood Adv. 2020 Sep 22;4(18):4494-4507 PMID: 32946569 PMCID: PMC7509873 SCOPUS ID: 2-s2.0-85092260584 09/19/2020
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(Chowdhury AR, Zielonka J, Kalyanaraman B, Hartley RC, Murphy MP, Avadhani NG.) Redox Biol. 2020 09;36:101606 PMID: 32604037 PMCID: PMC7327929 SCOPUS ID: 2-s2.0-85086919803 07/01/2020
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Tracking isotopically labeled oxidants using boronate-based redox probes.
(Rios N, Radi R, Kalyanaraman B, Zielonka J.) J Biol Chem. 2020 05 08;295(19):6665-6676 PMID: 32217693 PMCID: PMC7212653 SCOPUS ID: 2-s2.0-85084721806 03/29/2020
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(Zhang Q, Cheng G, Pan J, Zielonka J, Xiong D, Myers CR, Feng L, Shin SS, Kim YH, Bui D, Hu M, Bennett B, Schmainda K, Wang Y, Kalyanaraman B, You M.) Cell Commun Signal. 2020 04 07;18(1):58 PMID: 32264893 PMCID: PMC7140380 SCOPUS ID: 2-s2.0-85083071315 04/09/2020
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(Cheng G, Pan J, Podsiadly R, Zielonka J, Garces AM, Dias Duarte Machado LG, Bennett B, McAllister D, Dwinell MB, You M, Kalyanaraman B.) Free Radic Biol Med. 2020 02 01;147:167-174 PMID: 31874251 PMCID: PMC6948008 SCOPUS ID: 2-s2.0-85076857582 12/25/2019
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(Szala M, Grzelakowska A, Modrzejewska J, Siarkiewicz P, Słowiński D, Świerczyńska M, Zielonka J, Podsiadły R.) Dyes and Pigments. December 2020;183 SCOPUS ID: 2-s2.0-85089199002 12/01/2020
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Boronate-Based Probes for Biological Oxidants: A Novel Class of Molecular Tools for Redox Biology.
(Sikora A, Zielonka J, Dębowska K, Michalski R, Smulik-Izydorczyk R, Pięta J, Podsiadły R, Artelska A, Pierzchała K, Kalyanaraman B.) Front Chem. 2020;8:580899 PMID: 33102447 PMCID: PMC7545953 10/27/2020
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(Cheng G, Hardy M, Zielonka J, Weh K, Zielonka M, Boyle KA, Abu Eid M, McAllister D, Bennett B, Kresty LA, Dwinell MB, Kalyanaraman B.) Cancer Treat Res Commun. 2020;25:100210 PMID: 32987287 SCOPUS ID: 2-s2.0-85091576205 09/29/2020
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SOD2 acetylation on lysine 68 promotes stem cell reprogramming in breast cancer.
(He C, Danes JM, Hart PC, Zhu Y, Huang Y, de Abreu AL, O'Brien J, Mathison AJ, Tang B, Frasor JM, Wakefield LM, Ganini D, Stauder E, Zielonka J, Gantner BN, Urrutia RA, Gius D, Bonini MG.) Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 2019 11 19;116(47):23534-23541 PMID: 31591207 PMCID: PMC6876149 SCOPUS ID: 2-s2.0-85075260452 10/09/2019
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(Cheng G, Zielonka J, Hardy M, Ouari O, Chitambar CR, Dwinell MB, Kalyanaraman B.) Oncotarget. 2019 May 28;10(37):3518-3532 PMID: 31191823 PMCID: PMC6544408 06/14/2019